Personal defense is a matter of choice for individuals. Some choose to not have any, others prefer training in martial arts, some choose a weapon. Often times, that weapon is a firearm such as a small handgun, so the use of a firearm for personal defense is well known. Users of firearms tend to conceal them in their clothing or other objects. Law enforcement and military personnel often conceal them on their persons as a “back-up” weapon, in case their primary weapon fails or situations become dire. As such, the ideal back-up weapon is ideally small and easily concealable. Their positioning is not to hinder the movement of the carrier. They tend to carry a few rounds of ammunition and maybe have some container or magazine to carry spare rounds. They tend not to be very accurate at a distance.
In conjunction with the development of multi-cartridge magazines, the revolver was one of the greatest advancements in firearm technology in the nineteenth century. With either of these systems, a weapon could be loaded at one convenient time and store multiple shots of ammunition for when they were needed. The revolver became the “go-to” personal weapon of the western US territories as they we easily carried on the person, easily used, and carried a number of cartridges for multiple firings.
The traditional revolver may be either single or double action mechanism with a hammer or striker located rearward of an ammunition storing cylinder. When firing, the hammer is released and it impinges a firing pin, which in turn impinges the ammunition cartridge, firing it. Before firing again, the cylinder must rotate to position the next cartridge. The most common method of rotating the cylinder is a ratchet mechanism. The most common ratchet mechanisms are typically keyed to either the trigger or the hammer. Double action revolvers are keyed to the trigger so that as the trigger is pulled, a ratchet arm pushes the cylinder so that it rotates and positions the next occupied chamber for firing. As the trigger returns to its ready-to-fire position, it draws the ratchet arm down and resets it for the next firing. Single action revolvers are typically keyed to the hammer. In order for either system to work, then, a ratchet gear or ratchet pad must be positioned on the cylinder.
When designing a smaller revolver, such as one to serve as a back-up personal defense weapon, the size of the cylinder and the associated weapon become a limiting factor. Any ratchet system must be durable enough to withstand repeated use but yet be effective. Unfortunately, as the cylinder becomes smaller, it becomes more and more difficult to position a ratchet pad on the cylinder.
The present invention is a compact ratcheting system for such a revolver that utilizes an otherwise freely movable ratchet arm that is arrested in its forward motion by the structure of the firearm itself so as to prevent excessive contact of the ratchet arm with the cylinder or binding on the cartridges contained in the cylinder chambers.
The present invention represents a departure from the prior art in that the firearm of the present invention allows for a ratcheting mechanism coupled with a small-scale design suitable for a personal back-up weapon.